Understanding our limits
by marvelhawkeye
Summary: Anna Stark is the 19 year old daughter of billionaire Tony Stark, who returns home after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. She greets her friends with open arms and gets to work in her lab. However, when a mission goes wrong things start swaying. Drastically . All she needs is to be able to trust again, and be trusted.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note:**

**Hello everyone. This is my first story, I hope you like it. Xx**

**Don't forget to review so I can see what you like and what I need to improve on**

**Thank you **

**PS. I do not own any of the characters except Anna :)**

* * *

"Permission to land, over"

"Permission granted" a familiar voice replies. "Welcome back"

"Jarvis, it's good to be back"

I slowly steer the quinjet to the roof top landing pad my dad installed for easy access. Once I land, metal runners pull the landing pad inside the building and a metal shutter closes behind me. I lower the ramp and exit the jet, only to have my breath knocked out of me.

A warm embrace encircles me, lifting me off the ground.

"Dad" I yell "put me down"

A loud chuckle fills the room. "Anna, I've missed you so much" my dad says, placing me back on my feet. He hasn't changed much really. Well. He hasn't changed at all. He stares down at me with a goofy smile, his brown hair perfectly styled. He's wearing faded jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt. The blue glow of his arc reactor shining through.

"I missed you too"

"You haven't changed a bit" he states, hugging me once more. It's true i haven't. I stand at 5"5 in a pair of black tight fitting jeans, a black tank top, my electric blue leather jacket and black combatt boots. My hair, a light brown slighty frizzy mess, is straightened to just below shoulder length with a long side fringe. My eyes, just like my fathers, are a deep brown. I have olive skin and a slim, curvy structure.

"Everyones waiting for you down stairs, they're probably getting very impatient right now" my dad chuckles

I haven't seen my friends in over 6 months, the thought of them excites me

"Let's go then" i say, grabbing my dads arm. He leads me across the hanger to an elevator and presses floor 94. When we arrive and the doors open a small red head flies into me. Natasha. Natasha is one of my best friends. We met at shield and have previously been on missions together, but lately we haven't seen much of each other. She just squeezes me tight.

"Hey Nat, I've missed you" I mumble. She lets me go with a wide grin on her face.

"Missed you too"

As I walk into the large room everybody is smiling at me. Clint who stands at just under 6" is nearest to me and pulls me into a bone crunching hug.

"Hey Anna" he says, letting me go. I've known clint for a long time now, Nat introduced me to him, and we've been friends ever since. His pale green eyes look down at me warmly.

"Hey Clint" I reply

Next I get a second bone crushing hug but this time from the demi god Thor whom i have known for a little while.

"Glad to see you again" Thor says with his booming voice

"Glad to see you too" I reply

Bruce then pulls me in for a hug. Bruce I have known for just over 2 years now. We get on like a house on fire, science geeks!

Finally I reach Steve. Steve who is 6"3 stares down at me with his bright blue eyes and perfect smile, pulls me into a hug. We have known each other from shield and I have been on missions with him too. The last time I saw any of them was here, when I got deployed on a mission.

"It's been too long" he chuckles "I've missed you"

"Missed you too" I say, letting go of steve and turning around. This floor is exactly as I remember it. Wide and open with glass walls that show off the manhattan skyline. Couches, chairs, coffee tables and tech are dotted all over the place. In the centre of the room is the elevator and an emergency stairwell. In the back corner is a kitchen island with bar stools along the nearest edge.

"Let's get you to your floor so I can show you what I've done to it" my dad says with enthusiasm

I roll my eyes and every one chuckles. I follow my dad to the elevator and Nat tags along. Once we reach floor 91 we walk out.

"WOW" I say. All the exterior walls are glass, giving me the breathtaking view, one stretch has been tinted for privacy. My dad has built a wall down one third of the floor which contains an extremely large bedroom and bathroom, furnished with a metal and scarlet theme. yet again couches, chairs, coffee tables and tech are scattered in the main room with a kitchen Island in the back corner.

"Do you like it?" My dad asks "you have jarvis at your full command and all these windows can be tinted for privacy. Unfortunately, due to safety, you will have to go down stairs for the labs and tech labs. Just incase you set fire to this floor. Oh and the gym is on 80." My dad rambles

"Dad it's perfect"

He smiles "ok, I'll leave you to it, don't be too long. Dinners at 7" with that he left. The sun was just starting to set, casting an orange glow through the room.

Nat chuckled.

"What's funny?" I say

"You. See you in 20" and she too left


	2. Chapter 2

What made Natasha find me so funny?

I quickly showered, allowing the warm water to loosen my muscles, and got dressed in a jeans and a loose fitting red tank top. I pulled a comb through my hair and tucked it behind my ears- showing of my small gold dusted stud earings.

I walked across my marvellous apartment and got into the elevators, glancing down at my watch I realised it was 7, bang on time. To be honest I actually _was_ starving- my stomach growling, just to prove my point.

As I reached the "hang out area", which I had already nicknamed, I could smell the deliciousness of the best food in the world. pizza.

I turned to face the kitchen, everyone was already there. They were seated around the island, digging in their food.

"Hey Anna" my dad called, beckoning me over to a spare seat between him and Clint.

I walked over and hopped up on the bar stool and grabbed a few slices of pizza, everyone giving me a welcoming smile.

"Hungry hugh" Clint chuckled, acknowledging the fact that I was literally in-haling my food. I nodded, taking another bite.

"When was the last time you actually had a proper meal?" My dad asked

"Erm, about 3 weeks ago I think. Maybe longer." I answered, taking another hungry bite.

"What, that can't be good!" Steve said frowning

My dad gave me a very disapproving look, waiting for me to give him a reason.

"I'm sorry, but I've been really busy, I've been on the run, I've been trying to rescue s.h.i.e.l.d, trying to find the enemy and trying not to die" I rambled

"I know that feeling" natasha stated, grinning in my direction

I grinned back, swallowing my last bite. "So, what has everyone been up to?" I asked

"Same old same old" my dad chuckled

"So what are you planning on doing, now that you are unemployed?" Bruce asked

"Relaxing and working in the lab probably" I answered, grinning

"It wouldn't be anything but that, now would it?" Steve chuckled

I childishly stuck my tongue out at him, earning myself another chuckle, and collected the dirty dishes to place in the dishwasher. After I finished, everyone moved over to the comfort of the squishy arm chairs and sofas. I took a seat next to Natasha on the sofa whilst everyone else moved towards the other side of the floor, where the enormous television was.

I watched as my dad collected himself a scotch and sunk into a leather seat, bruce joined him on the seat next to him. Thor, clint and steve grabbed a beer each- Thor seating himself across the coffee table from bruce and Clint and Steve sitting on the sofa, directly opposite from the TV. Steve took a sip from his beer and was getting fully engrossed in the football game that was on.

"Would you stop staring" Natasha said, bringing me back to my senses. "Go talk to him"

"I was not starring" i said, my British accent turning fierce.

I lived with my mother in England, where I was born, for the majority of my life and came to America to live with my father at the age of 15 when my mother died. My parents relationship was a short one, and my father was not told about me until I was born. My mother rarely gave him the chance to see me when I was growing up, I probably only saw him once a year, but he would talk to me every day over the phone and he always made sure that I was getting the best out of life. He truly cared about me very much

"Oh for goodness sake, just admit that you like him. Last year when you two were being deployed on missions all the time, both of you were flirting with each other but neither of you did anything about it. And don't say anything about age, you're almost 20 and he's really only 24" she said "if you don't do anything about it then I will"

"Don't you dare" I scowled "do you want to be my friend" I joked. She laughed

"Hey, keep it down, we're trying to watch a game over here." Clint called

"Oh shut up " Natasha called back. Clint smirked

"Tomorrow you are going to the park with Steve, he goes jogging every morning, and you two are going to spend the whole day out together and finally admit that you like each other"

"What, no! I'm working on a project in the lab tomorrow" I whined

Natasha narrowed her eyes " I did warn you" you said " Hey Steve?" she called. My eyes widened in panick

"Yeah?" Steve called back

"Fine I'll do it" I whispered

Natasha smirked, triumphantly. "Who's winning?" She said, walking over to the guys to watch the game.

Dammit. I muttered, leaving to go get some well earned sleep.

"Night guys"


	3. Chapter 3

I screamed

I sat upright in bed, tangled in the sheets, andactuallyy drenched in sweat. My heart racing and my breathing ragged. I tumpled out of bed, the room was spinning, I pulled myself across the carpet- causing burns on my elbows and knees. As I reached the giant bathroom, I lifted myself into the shower. I slipped, catching my head and leg on the corner of the tiles, causing two large gashes. I sighed in relief as the cold water washed over my body. The water rinsed the sweat and blood of, as well as removing my nightmare.

I lied in the shower, fully clothed in my pajamas, until my breathing reached a normal pace. I slowly got up, and walked back to my room. Changing into a pair of jogging shorts and a vest top.

"Miss Stark, is everything alright?" Jarvis asked

"I'll be alright" I croaked

"Miss, would you like me to inform your father, or prehaps Dr Banner or Miss Romanoff.."

"No thank you Jarvis, I'll be alright"

"Miss, I suggest you make your way to floor 94. There is a full first aid kit in the kitchen"

I stumbled over to the elevator,pressing 94. When I reached the floor I staggered over to the kitchen in the partial darkness, falling over and banging my head on the ground. I glanced up at the hologram clock, it read 2:45am. I groaned, trying to lift myself of the floor, my energy was draining out of my body.

Suddenly, the lift dinged. Who would be up at this hour? No. Please tell me Jarvis didn't wake everyone up, i thought- secretly praying. I heared the lift doors open, the person walked out but stopped in their tracks.

"Anna" Steves pannicked voice called, running over to my bloody body on the floor. He scooped me up gently and placed me on the sofa, running to get the first aid kit. When he returned he started to mop up the blood, which had covered my face.

"What happened?" He asked

"Nightmare, I fell" I just about got out.

Steve frowned but carried on cleening my cut.

"Jarvis" steve called " Call Dr Banner"

Within minutes Bruce rushed out the elevator.

"What's going on?" He asked

"Anna has hurt herself" steve replied

Bruce came over to me, turning the lights on. He reached down and took over from steve- cleaning my head and leg wounds. Bruce then placed a few steri strips across the wounds- sealing them

"Steve, could you get a glass of water and some ice for her head"

Steve walked over to the kitchen and returned with said items. Bruce took the water and held it to my lips. I gulped down a few mouthfuls of the cool water, refreshing my mouth. I slowly tried to sit up, bruce helping me. Steve sat next to me, to support my body, and held a cloth full of ice to the bruise on my forehead.

"Anna, what happened?" Bruce asked questioningly

"I dreamed about a mission i had been on, but when I woke I was disorientated. I made my way to the shower to calm down but I tripped" I said, gesturing towards my injuries

"Do you want to talk about your dream?" Bruce asked

"No, not really" I replied. Bruce sighed but got up to wash his hands. "Thank you"

Bruce smiled. "Steve, call me if anything happens. Get some rest" he said walking back to the elevator. It was already 3:40

"He's right" Steve said, leaning me against the sofa. "Get rest"

"I've had worst" I replied smirking. "What were you doing up?" I asked closing my eyes

"Couldn't sleep" Steve replied

With that I drifted into unconsciousness

* * *

I awoke about 3 hours later to the sound of the elevator. I heared Clint and Nat talking as they came out.

"Hey cap whoa.." Clint said, walking over. "Who's your friend? Why does she look like someone from night of the living dead?"

I stuck my tongue out at Clint, making him chuckle.

"I'm fine, people are just over reacting. I have had so much worse"

"True" Natasha said, walking over to get breakfast

"Nat, can I have blueberry pancakes?" I asked. She nodded and the guys chuckled

"How are you feeling?" Steve asked

"Hungry. And fine" I added seeing Steve frown

"what did you actually do?" Clint asked, taking a seat

" She fell" Bruce answered, walking in. "How are you feeling?" He asked, looking at me

I groaned. "I'm fine, would people stop panicking". I leaned forward and stood up.

"Is that really the best idea?" Steve said. He didn't push the point further when he saw the death glare I gave him

I walked over to a stool and sat down next to Nat, who was already eating. Yawning, I grabbed my food and dug in. The elevator dinged again, announcing the entrance of Thor and my father.

"Morning" my dad said, coming over to get coffee. Everybody came over, taking seats and getting food. My dad pulled up a seat opposite me and sat down.

"What happened to your face?" My dad blurted out, noticing the stripps ons my forehead. Rolling my eyes, I ignored him, I let Bruce inform him. He gave a worried glance but I let it go.

"So what is everyone doing today?" I asked, looking around

"We're working on a project in the lab" my dad said, gesturing to Bruce and himslef.

"Me and Nat are looking into leads on hydra" Clint said

"I'll be helping these two" steve answered, nodding towards Natasha and Clint "but after I've been to the park" he added

"Oh, can I come?" I asked

"Sure, but only if your feeling ok" Steve answered

"Well I feel ok so I'll meet you in a minute" I answered sarcastically, walking to the elevators to get changed


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note**

**Thank you to everyone who has read this story, I hope you are enjoying it! I am very great full towards those who have read, favourited and followed this story, it means a lot.**

**I hope you enjoy this new chapter and please review so I can have an idea of what you like, dislike, think i should improve on or would like to see!**

**Xxx**

* * *

I quickly showered and dried

my hair, pulling it into a short french braid that just hung below my shoulders. Trainers, black yoga pants and a pink tank top was what I changed into- perfect for jogging but fairly stylish. I grabbed my phone and a few weapons and placed them in pockets and hidden pockets within my clothing. As I reached the lobby on the ground floor, Steve was already waiting for me. He was wearing tight fitting bottoms snd a tight fitting white t-shirt that showed off his abs and muscles for my benefit.. I couldn't help but stare.

"You ready?" Steve asked smiling

"Yep" I answered grinning

It was nice to get some fresh air. Steve and I walked for about 25 minutes on the busy streets of New York to get to the park- dodging pedestrians and keeping an eye out for suspicous activity on our way. When we finally got to the park, we broke into a jog. Well. When I say jog, I mean a fast run for me and an extreme sprint for Steve. I know he has superhuman speed and strength but man can he run fast. He used to tease me about it on missions. I was a good fighter and runner as far as humans went but I was nothing compared to him. My abilities lye in being a fighter pilot, inventor and hacker. I was told by Fury himself that I was one of the best pilots he had ever met. I feel comfortable in a plane, I feel no limits in the sky. I guess you could say I got my intelligence from my father. I love inventing and creating things- my dad does it better but I am still good. I specialise in computers. Hacking and cracking codes are a sixth sence to me, easy and simple. Steve and I were great on missions. I handled the tech whilst he had my back.

After about 30 minutes of running, I had to stop to catch my breath. That was enough running for the day.

"Hurry up Captain Slow" Steve called, walking to where I stood

"Shut up" I said, elbowing him in the ribs, when he got close enough to reach. "You cheat anyway" I stated

"I do not" said Steve chuckling " I just had serum to make me better"

"More like some serious steroids" I retorted

We slowly drifted out of the park, making our way back to the tower. We talked and laughed about all sorts of things. From missions to movies and music. We were about 2 blocks away from the tower when I dragged Steve into a small coffee shop. We sat down- Steve drinking a latte whilst I sipped on a smoothie.

"Not a coffee drinker?" Steve asked, nodding towards my drink

"nah, not really" I said shaking my head "I don't really like any hot drinks. Coffee, hot chocolate. Tea is ok, I don't mind drinking tea." I rambled

Steve lifted an eyebrow " You don't like hot chocolate?"

I shook my head, swallowing my drink. "It tastes weird"

Steve chuckled "Well I've learned something new about you today"

"There is a lot you don't know about me" I replied, smirking.

We finished our drinks and headed back to the tower. Steve asked me what I was planning to do today, of which I proceeded to tell him that my dad had managed to rescue my jet from S.H.I.E.L.D and that I needed to repair it, so I would be in the aircraft hanger all day. Once we reched the loby we headed into an elevator, stopping at Steves floor first, which was 1 level below mine. Steve stepped out and turned towards me.

"Try not to electrocute, or blow yourself up in the aircraft hanger" Steve said, his blue eyes full of humour and kindness

I smirked "I can't promise anything" and with that the doors closed and he was gone.

When I reached my floor I walked into my bedroom and undressed. I pulled on my old black flight suit and zipped it up at the front, placing my feet in a old pair of combat boots. These would do to get mucky and oily from repairing a plane. I glanced over at the small cabinet in the corner of the room- which held my "proper" flight uniform- I couldn't wait to be able to wear that again.

I headed out of my room and towards the elevators- making my way up to the hangers.


	5. Chapter 5

I walked through the floor of the hanger, my boots echoing off the aluminium walls. I finally reached 2 large steal shutters on the wall-next to which a keypad stuck out. Reaching over towards the keypad, I typed in my password - The shutters opened immediately, revealing a huge room. I stepped in. Shelves and desks, full of equipment and tools, lined the thick steal walls. The far wall was a huge hologram and many computers hung down off the celieng next to it. On the right hand wall another set of shutters could be seen, holding a project of mine, but currently my attention was focused on the fighter jet in the centre of the room.

My plane, which my dad had luckily rescued for me, was matt jet black. She was made of a lightweight, protective material (developed by me) and had state of the art engines (also developed by me- with slight help from my dad. slight) I quickly walked over to her and assessed the damage. My assessment concluded a lot of scrapes and dents and a fuel leak, which was good considering she had survived an explosion. I got right to work on the fuel leak and topped her off with fuel once she was fixed. I grabbed some tools and got to work on the dents. These were easily fixed- all I had to do was remould panels in places and replace panels in more damaged places. I walked over to a shelf and snapped on a dust mask and grabbed an airbrush, attaching it to the black paint. I gave the body a coat of paint to make it look smart and hide the blemishes. I walked back over to the paints, this time attaching an electric turquoise paint to the airbrush. Pulling up some designs on the hologram, I climbed up a ladder I had out until I was level with the tail. Carefully, I painted a large circle with an A inside on the centre of the tail. Finally, I intricately painted the letters STARK to the bottom right of the A in my own block letters script. Content with my work, I packed all my tools away, took off my mask, and trudged over to the computers.

I sat down on one of the black office chairs, sprawling my tired limbs out.

"Ma'am, Ms Romanoff has asked for your assistance down in the computer room on 74"

"Oh, thank you Jarvis, are they still working on Hydra leads?" I asked, begrudgingly standing

"Yes, I believe so"

"Thanks Jarvis" I replied walking out of my work area and securing it. I jogged over to the elevators and pressed 74. Twenty seconds later the doors opened on 74, revealing a wide open space filled with computers, tech, holograms and tracking devices. Over on the far wall, Natasha, Clint and Steve were observing a holoscreen with what apeared to be someones credentials on it. Natasha turned around and beckoned me over.

"Sorry Anna, but we needed your help" Natasha said once I had made it over to them, observing the fact that I had my old flight uniform on.

"That's alright, I was done anyway. So what have you found?"

"Recognise him?" Natasha asked, gesturing to the screen.

"Can't say that I do" I answered, looking at the picture of the brunette man. "Who is he"

"Alexander Agnarsson, Hydra. He will be going through with a mission in New mexico in one week, of whi h Hydra do not know that we know of it"

"So you guys are going to intercept it and take him down. What do you need me for?"

"You are going to take him down" Natasha answered

"Agnarsson, acording to these Hydra records, is a piolt. A very skilled one, better then my abilities. He will be flying over New mexico trying to collect information through radio waves, it is vital that he does not get that intel." Clint continued

"We need you to blow him out the sky" Natasha stated, cheerily

I smirked, clapping my hands together I spoke "Alright then, when do I start?"


End file.
